Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski Brawl on Pit Road

Jeff Gordon and his chances of winning the Chase for the Sprintcup Championship came under caution Sunday (Nov. 3) after Brad Keselowski slammed into the back of the 24 car on a restart with five laps remaining in the race.

Gordon was leading on the restart with old tires. When Keselowski tried to make a move around Gordon, he struck the left-rear tire and cut it–causing Gordon to go into a spin, finishing 29th.

While Johnson was busy celebrating his victory, Keselowski returned to pit road; where Gordon soon showed up.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway

Pulling up right next to Keselowski, Gordon got out of his car and furiously walked right up to the driver. After a few words were exchanged, Gordon lunged at Keselowski, grabbed him by the collar, and soon the tiff broke out into a full-on brawl. The two teams began exchanging fists and both drivers came out with bloody faces and fat lips.

After the altercation, Gordon told ESPN:

“We were sitting there on older tires. I spun the tires a little but I got a pretty decent restart. We went down into (turn) one and I just wanted to get to the outside of the 48 (Johnson) and and out of nowhere I just got slammed by the 2 and it cut my left-rear tire. He’s just a dip—. The way he races, I don’t know how he ever won a championship and I’m just sick and tired of it.”

Keselowski said afterwards that he was “racing for the win.” After seeing a hole to get around Gordon, Keselowski said, “I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s day, I wanted to win the race and that was our opportunity.”